John Hartwell is the Head of the Resources Division in the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Australia.

The Resources Division provides advice to the Australian Government on policy issues, legislative changes and administrative matters related to the upstream and downstream petroleum industry and the coal and minerals industries.

The Department, in collaboration with Geoscience Australia—the Australian Government’s national agency responsible for geoscientific research and geospatial information—prepares the annual Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release (acreage release).

The Australian Government encourages investment in petroleum exploration through the acreage release, which is underpinned by Australia’s stable economic environment and well-established regulatory framework for offshore petroleum actives.

Acreage included in the 2010 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release is located across five basins. Release areas have been carefully selected to offer the global petroleum exploration industry a variety of investment opportunities. Areas vary in size, in the level of existing geological knowledge and are located in a range of water depths. Selected areas are supported by pre-competitive geological and geophysical data and analysis undertaken by Geoscience Australia.

The detailed acreage release information package is available at online at www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au or by visiting the Commonwealth Government’s booth at the APPEA conference.